Disparities in child care availability across communities: Differential reflection of targeted interventions and local demand

Public investment in early childhood education is rising rapidly. Between 1990 and 2008, the number of three to five year olds enrolled in public early childhood education and care programs (excluding kindergarten) more than doubled from 1.2 to 2.7 million children.2 This rise in public investment – attributed to such factors as growth in female labor force participation, welfare reform, and an increasing understanding of early child development (Gormley, 2007; Loeb & Bassok, 2008) signals a significant expansion in the role of federal, state and local governments in the development of young children. State-level investment has grown particularly rapidly, more than doubling from $2.4 billion in 2001 to $5 billion in 2008 (Barnett, Epstein, Friedman, Boyd, & Hustedt, 2008).